Sustainable Kitchen Hacks

Gloria here, am writing this article to give you insight on the importance of creating a sustainable kitchen ,tips and that you can use and great diy’s just for you! Having worked in one of the 5 star rated hotel in Kenya ,i got got to understand that food waste is a big issue not only for hotels but also at an individual level .According to United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation a third of the food produced doesn't even reach the table ,this can be attributed to post-harvest losses ,in-efficient storage facilities and food waste in the kitchen just to mention a few.

There are a few companies that strive to eliminate this losses such as KITRO | Food Waste Management | kitro.ch in the hospitality industry , Solar Freeze here in Kenya that works with farmers to eliminate post harvest losses and great chefs who strive to reduce food waste and unsustainable kitchen habits. The question then is how can you help change the world ? i was asked this very question during the 2019 Hult Prize in Nairobi Hult Prize Foundation | and to be honest this question actually scared me ,how could I change the world ? but as i later on got to understand that it's the little things in life that matter and making changes in my life to be more sustainable can help change my environment,community ,nation and why not the world .

Back to our question ,how can you have a sustainable kitchen ?

1.Use reusable dish towels as compared to paper towels.

2.Use reusable Grocery bags and get rid of the plastic bags.

3.Cook with scraps and ends.According to Oliva Andrews ,culinary director of marley spoon ,a meal-kit delivery service with a no- waste philosophy pointed out that herbs are among the most wasted ingredients, he goes on to explain how you could be a creative chef and use other parts of the herb like coriander stem that is wasted because people prefer the leaves. How to reduce food waste in the home kitchen

4.Better storage facilities for perishable and non-perishable food items . For perishable food items there are various methods used to store different kinds of foods so that they last longer , recently i was scrolling my Instagram feed and realised that kitchen professionals are going above and beyond to even give us which method stores food the longest example being coriander ( the bouquet method ,wrapping or immersing the roots in water) .

5.Have a budget .Some people prefer using a recipe so that’s becomes easier to plan and budget for your meals as well as monitor the portion size however as i was doing my research on this article a few chefs have come out to protest against the use of recipes because it limits one's creativity also from an article from Efficiency in the Kitchen to Reduce Food Waste they quoted a professional saying “If we leave the recipe behind and get back to cooking techniques in the kitchen waste will go away.”

6.Ensure you monitor your food portions. Serving an adequate amount of food helps you to finish what is on your plate thus reducing food waste.

7. Source food locally and avoid over packaging the food items.

Author Gloria Kisilu

Watch the full YouTube video Gloria & Grace or listen to our podcast Living Green with Glow & Grey • A podcast on Anchor and don’t forget to follow us on social media Instagram https://www.instagram.com/glow_grey/